Modoc County Recorder Mechanics Lien Filing

You can file your mechanic liens in person at the Modoc County Recorder’s office located at:

204 S. Court Street Rm 106
Alturas, CA 96101
Recorder: 530-233-6217
Fax: 530-233-6237

Office hours:
M-F 8:30am-5pm
Closed for lunch from 12-1pm
Closed Saturday and Sunday

The Modoc County Recorder does not publicly disclose information on recording backlog. Although the Modoc County recorder does not publicly say how long their backlog is, you can give them a call at 530-233-6217 to see how long it would take to record your lien.

If the project is located in Modoc county, then yes, you will want to record your lien with the Modoc County Recorder’s office.

Generally, to file a mechanics lien in Modoc County you should 1) Meet all California Mechanics Lien requirements including having sent a 20-day Preliminary notice. 2) Meet all county document filing requirements, which include printing your lien on 8.5 x 11 inch paper using .5 inch margins, except at the top of the first page where you should use a 2.5inch margin. 3) Pay all appropriate and required filing fees for the county to record your document: $10 for the first page and $3 for each additional page in your lien filing.

All documents must comply with the 8 1/2 x 11 standard page size. Pages must be printed, typed, written or stamped only on one side. If any page has anything written, typed, printed or stamped on the back of the page then the fee for the recording will increase by $3.00 per page. The margin requirements to file a lien in Modoc County are: 2.5 inches at the top of the first page and .5 margins on all other sides. Every other page should have .5 margins.

You can make payment to the Modoc County Recorder in person. The Modoc County Recorder accepts cash, check, money order, and most major credit cards.

The Modoc County Recorder’s regular recording fee is $10.00 for the first page and $3.00 for each additional page.

Additional Recording Fees

Non-conforming page size: $3.00 for each page other than 8.5 x 11″

Penalty print: $1.00

Indexing Fees (indexing more than 10 names): $1.00 per group of 10

Release of lien by a public agency: $12.00

Copy Fees

Official Copy: $3.00 for the first page and $2.00 for each additional page

Certification: $6.50 per document

Conformed Copy: $1.00

You can obtain a recorded copy of your lien in person or by mail:

In Person

You can visit the Modoc County Recorder’s office in person to request your document.

The Modoc County Recorder’s office is located at:

204 S. Court Street Rm 106
Alturas, CA 96101
Recorder: 530-233-6217
Fax: 530-233-6237

Office hours:
M-F 8:30am-5pm
Closed for lunch from 12-1pm
Closed Saturday and Sunday

There’s a public computer in the office for you to use for lien searches.

In order to use this option you must know the name of the current owner of the property.

By Mail

You can also use the online index search option to view Modoc County Recorder’s Index.

If you do find a document you are looking for you can then mail in a request to to purchase the documents along with the request fees to:

Modoc County Recorder
204 S. Court St. Rm 106
Alturas, CA 96101

Make check or money orders payable to the Modoc County Recorder.

To get a property’s legal description you can visit the Modoc County Recorder’s office located at:

204 S. Court Street Rm 106
Alturas, CA 96101
Recorder: 530-233-6217
Fax: 530-233-6237

Office hours:
M-F 8:30am-5pm
Closed for lunch from 12-1pm
Closed Saturday and Sunday

There’s a public computer in the office for you to use for this type of search.

You can also use the online index search option to view Modoc County Recorder’s Index.

If you do find a document you are looking for you can then mail in a request to to purchase the documents to:

Modoc County Recorder
204 S. Court St. Rm 106
Alturas, CA 96101

Determining whether you do or do not have a mechanics lien right can be tricky. Generally speaking, every state gives those who have furnished labor and/or materials to a construction project the right to file a mechanics lien if unpaid for the furnishing. The same is true in California. However, there are some state-specific limitations as to who is qualified to file a mechanics lien that is important when considering whether you have the right to file a mechanics lien in Modoc County, California.

Great and detailed information about this is available on our California Mechanics Lien Resources Page.

The fee to file a California 20-day Preliminary notice in Modoc County is $20.

The Modoc County Recorder is Kristen DePaul with the following deputies assisting:

Shannon Hagge
Desirea Kendall
Cindy Mohr